by Jet MacLeod
“Really, Da. You aren’t trying to set me up are you?” Gracie asked him.
“Now, do I look like I would do that to you, my gurl? I have more sense than that, gurl. I wouldn’t begin to know where to look for someone for you. Plus, I don’t think that my business associate would think that you’re their type,” Padrick said matter-of-factly.
“Well, oh well. I am just glad that I know that I don’t have to deal with any more surprises today. I am ready to enjoy a quiet dinner at home with my family. So, Da, excuse me while I go help Mum in the kitchen with dinner,” Gracie said walking away from him.
Reagan poked her head around the office door to see Padrick smiling like a loon. He sure was happy with himself about something. Reagan couldn’t help but think that he planned this whole dinner so that they could hash everything out in the open. She had to give it to the Irishman, when he meddled, he meddled.
“I am not sure I should stay,” Reagan told Padrick as she tried to head to the front door.
“Why is that, me wee lass?” he asked.
“I didn’t know that this was a family dinner,” Reagan said.
“Nonsense. This is a business dinner and I have business with both you and Gracie. Don’t worry ‘bout it. Did everything go good with the new program?”
“Yes, Paddy. You should be happy with the new program. It will make it easier for you to track all of your investments. I think that I can design a better program that will be based on the same premise for the real estate program that you are planning to start,” Reagan said.
“That’s good, lass. That is verra good. I am glad that I do business with you. You have made my business double with your programs. You’ve made it verra easy for me. Now come on and give us some news,” he said offering a seat in the den near him.
“Mum, are you alright?” Grace asked her mother when she entered the kitchen.
“Yeah, gurl, I am well. And, ye, how are you?” Brianna asked.
“I am good, Mum. You look distressed. Are you sure that something isn’t bothering you?” Grace paused and said, “It’s Dadda, I can tell.”
“It isn’t really your Da. It is something he did. I am sure that it is going to blow up in his face. And, I really don’t want to be here when it happens. I am sure that you can understand that,” Brianna said.
“Yeah, Mum, I can.”
“Now, quit your yappin’ and go set the table, lass,” Brianna ordered.
“Yes’m,” Gracie said taking the plates and silverware to the table.
Grace laid the plates out at the four spots at the table. She then set out to lay out the silverware for each setting. She took the napkins from the bar behinds her that her mother had placed there for her to put at each place setting. She reached back for the wine glasses and added them to the table. She then took the water glasses and added them to the table.
Gracie stood back and admired the table. She thought about what her mother had told her about her father and wondered what kind of business her father had gotten himself into now that her mother was afraid would backfire on him. She could only wonder.
She went back into the kitchen and began to help her mother prepare the dinner. Her mother was busy tending the roast in the oven. Her mother yelled some orders at her in Gaelic and she followed them knowing that her mother was frustrated with the dinner situation.
“I am going, Mum. Don’t worry, I am not going to let them burn. You know I know how much you hate that,” Gracie said, picking on her mother.
“Don’t tease me, gurl, I can still wallop you,” her mother warned.
“You and what army?” Gracie joked back.
“I’d watch yourself, gurl.”
“I’m a watching. I’m a watching. What are you going to do?”
“Gurl…you are as impossible as your father,” Brianna told her daughter.
“Well, at least, now, we know where I get it from,” Gracie said.
They both had to laugh at this because they both knew it was true. Grace had her father’s stubborn streak and his impossible-ness. Grace had to admit that she had her mother’s temper and her mother’s emotional complexity. This just meant that when things got tough for Gracie emotionally, she was known to run away from it all. This is exactly why she was back in Columbia and living at the lake house. This is exactly why Reagan had to bring her home that night from the bar. Grace just smiled and knew that she was a stubborn and emotional Irish-American girl that was trying to make her way in the big bad world.
“So do you know who is coming for dinner, Mum?” Gracie asked her mother.
“Oh, I am sure that it is going to be a surprise,” Brianna answered.
“How come I am not sure that I like the way you said that?”
“Because I am not sure that I am, either.”
Gracie just started at her mother, while her mother finished preparing the dinner. Grace was sure that her father was up to something now, but she hoped that it wasn’t what she thought it was. She knew that her father was good at “the business” as they called it, but she could only hope that he hadn’t done something stupid like join the Irish Mafia. Grace knew that she would never be able to live that down, especially with her being a cop. She could only hope that she was wrong because she didn’t want to have to ever end up investigating her own father or hear that he was being investigated for anything.
“Mum, tell me that he hasn’t done something stupid.”
“I can’t.”
“Well, at least, tell me that he didn’t go and join the mafia or something like that.”
“No, gurl, it was nothing like that. I am not sure that you are going to like it either way. It seems that his business with you started this new investment and I think that it is going to back fire on him. I don’t see why he does things the way he does. I only know it is the way he had always done things, his way,” Brianna said.
“So, he didn’t join the mafia?”
“No.”
“He didn’t try and start his own version of the mafia, did he?” Grace asked.
“Good heavens, no, gurl. He wouldn’t know what to do if he had that much power. I think he would try to take over if he did. He would try to run things his way. And, we both know how that would turn out,” Brianna said.
“Disastrous,” Grace said.
“Exactly. Now, quit your worrying and come help me plate everything for dinner. I want to get it on the table before it gets cold,” Brianna said.
Gracie helped her mother dish everything out on the table serving platters. She remembered the last time that she had seen this much work for a dinner on her parents part. It was the night that they celebrated her graduation from high school and her brother’s from college. It was odd that she would think of her older brother now at the eve of dinner, but she couldn’t help it. She knew that she wasn’t the perfect child but she hated to be reminded that her brother, the New York City Police Officer, was.
She helped her mother set table with all of the platters. She filled the wine glasses with her mother’s selection for the evening and poured water into the water glasses. She then filled the pitcher with ice and water so that they wouldn’t have to get up to refill their glasses from the table. Her mother handed her the wine bottle to put on ice, near the table, for handy refills as well. Grace couldn’t help but see the tension on her mother’s face.
“Are you sure that he didn’t join the mafia?”
“Yes, child, I am.”
“Well, you are acting as if the Don himself is coming.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t tell me. It is Father Buchanan. He is coming for dinner, right?”
“No. It isn’t the good Father. I am just nervous. You know how your father likes to impress his business relations,” Brianna said.
“Yes. Well if it isn’t the good Father, it sure ain’t the Pope. So who could it be?”
“I am not going to tell you.”
“Don’t tell me that he is trying to fix me u
p with one of his business partners or something, is he? Because if he is, then I am going to leave. I won’t let him do this to me. I refuse to let him try and force me through some dinner with some guy because he thinks that he can cure me of all my evils. I swear to you, Mum, I will leave if that is what this is,” Grace said.
“What about the house?”
“Damn the house. If he wants me to be with a man so bad, then he can keep the fucking house. I don’t want the thing, then,” Grace said, with a little more agitation than she wanted to.
“Gracie Lynn!”
“Sorry, Mum,” Grace said.
“We do not us that kind of language in this house. I will not stand for it. You had better go to confession on your way home for your repentance. Do you hear me, gurl?” Brianna asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I am sorry. I was just upset. Forgive me. I will go to confession and tell Father everything that I have done this week that would upset the Lord,” Grace said.
“Well, maybe not, everything, dear, but you should go to seek the Lord’s forgiveness.”
“Mum, don’t even get me started on that subject or we will be here all night. And, then we will both have to go to confession in the morning for saying things to each other that we didn’t mean. I don’t want a fight. I just want a quiet dinner with my parents and to pay Da for the lake house,” Grace said.
“Well, child, those dreams went out the door when you came in.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Never you mind. Call your father. It is time for dinner,” Brianna told her.
“Dadda! Time for dinner!” Grace yelled from in the kitchen.
“I meant go get him and you knew it. Goodness gurl, what am I to do wit’ ya?”
“Just love me because I am cute?” Grace offered.
“That hasn’t worked since you were seven.”
“A girl has got to use what works, don’t she, Mum?”
“Ah, Gracie Lynne…go wash up.”
Chapter Six
Padrick ushered Reagan into the dining room. He put her in his son Seamus’ spot since he wasn’t there. It was also on his right hand side. It meant a lot to put Reagan at his table. He was glad that she agreed to stay for dinner, but he was beginning to wonder what would happen when Grace found out that she was there.
Brianna brought the dishes in from the kitchen and arranged them at the table. She looked at Reagan with apprehension. Reagan returned her misgivings as well. Padrick seemed to be the only who wasn’t showing any uneasiness with the business that was about to occur at the table. It was as if they all knew that Grace would blow up but none of them wanted to admit it out loud.
Brianna sat down at the other end of the table and stared at Padrick. She was still accusing him of something, but she didn’t know what he had done yet to verbalize her discontent with it. Brianna nervously looked at Reagan and at the empty seat. She was waiting for Grace to come in from the wash room to sit at the table. She was waiting for Grace’s hidden Irish temper to flare and at her father and the woman to his right. Brianna had to admit that she was afraid of what Grace might do. She knew that Grace would never hit them, but she knew that her six foot daughter would think about it, and very hard.
“Got everything, Mum?” Grace yelled from the kitchen.
“Aye, come on in and sit for dinner,” Brianna called back.
Grace came into the dining room through the swinging door that led into the kitchen and came to a dead stop when she saw Reagan sitting at the table. For a second, Grace thought about detouring out the front door, but she regained herself and sat at the table. She couldn’t guess what her father was up to with this little stunt, but Grace knew it was something. It was then that Grace remembered her mother’s apprehension. Grace gave her mother an all-knowing look and shook her head. Grace sat there, resigned to make it through dinner without saying anything.
“Good, now that we are all here, we can say grace. Gracie, why don’t you do it?” Padrick said, “I think that it is your turn.”
Grace looked at her father, her eyes burning with rage. He was going to undermine everything that she was going to try to do tonight and she knew it. She resigned once again, but this time she promised herself that she wasn’t going to let her Irish temper show, at least not in front of Reagan and not at the table.
“Ok, Dadda, I’ll say it.
Brianna and Reagan looked shocked. They were both waiting for the explosion that never came and that would never come. Brianna knew that it was going to be a long dinner. She knew that Grace would wait for Reagan to leave and then Grace would unleash her temper on her father.
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this food we are about to receive and the fellowship that we have with our family, tonight. Bless those who need you the most tonight, Lord. Thank you for all our many blessings in life, dear Lord and thank you for sending your son Jesus to forgive all our sins. Please bless this food and us, oh, Lord, in your name we pray. Amen,” Grace said, her voice unwavering.
“Amen,” the rest replied.
“Please pass the potatoes, Mum,” Grace said, beginning to serve her plate.
After they had eaten, Padrick decided that it was time to get down to business. He pushed his chair back a little ways from the table and poured himself another glass of wine. He looked at Reagan to his right and Grace to his left. He wondered if they would ever see what he saw between them. He only wanted them to both be happy.
“So, ya wanted the lake house, huh, Gurl?”
“Yeah, Dadda, I do. I already told you that. I am prepared to make a deposit in your accounts however you would like for the price that we agreed upon,” Grace said, still keeping her temper in check.
“Well that sounds good. I’ll send someone over tomorrow from legal to set it up, then. I just wish that I had known earlier that you wanted it and I wouldn’t have put it on the market. That cost me a lot of money, you know?” Padrick said trying to egg her on.
“You never asked,” Grace said flatly.
“You never called,” he responded.
“You made it clear ten years ago that you didn’t want me to call you, remember?”
“Now, Padrick, that is enough. Leave the gurl alone. We don’t need to air this out now, now do we?” Brianna interjected before Padrick could say anything.
Reagan sat in her seat without saying a word. She knew that family situations could become tense without having to see this one come to a head. She wondered if she could make a curtseyed exit without offending them.
“Thank you for dinner, Mrs. O’Shea. It was delicious. I’ll have to invite you to one of my uncle’s pig roasts later in the year. But, I regret that I must go. I have to deal with the club tonight and I don’t want to be late,” Reagan said.
“Nonsense,” Padrick said.
“I’m sorry?” Reagan asked.
“I said: ‘Nonsense.’ You can’t leave yet. I wanted to thank you for all the business that you have done for me,” Padrick said.
“Why don’t you let her go, Da? It seems that she has somewhere else to be,” Grace said.
“Hush, Gurl!”
“Dadda, she has things to do. I don’t remember her being at your beck and call. She may work for you, but you don’t own her,” Grace said in Reagan’s defense.
Padrick was starting to get angry. Brianna could see it. Reagan could see it. Gracie could see it but she didn’t care. She had held back her tongue all evening and now she was going to give her father a piece of her mind.
“Watch yourself, Grace. Respect your elders, you remember that, gurl?”
“So, I’ll go to Confession later and say all my ‘Hail, Mary’s’ when I get home. I am not going to let you treat her like you did us when I was a kid. We are grown and our own person, Da. If she needs to leave, then let her leave.”
“Not until I am done thanking her,” Padrick retorted.
“Fine, but my business is done. I am leaving,” Grace said, standing, “Thanks
for dinner, Mum. It was great. I have to be in court in the morning. I am going to go.”
“You’re welcome, Gracie,” Brianna said.
“And, it was nice to see you again, Reagan. I hope that your business with my family goes well. As, for you, Da, goodnight,” Gracie said as cordially as she could.
“GRACIE LYNNE O’SHEA, SIT YOUR ARSE BACK DOWN!” Padrick said, losing it, his fist pounded the table. Grace looked at him and then at her mother and Reagan. She knew that she would pay for this stunt later, but at the moment, she didn’t care. She was going to leave and she was going to try to help Reagan leave if she could. She wasn’t going to take the shit that she used to take from her parents anymore. She reminded herself that she was a grown woman and could fend for herself. She wasn’t that scared little Catholic girl anymore.
“I don’t think that I will. Sorry. Goodnight, all,” Grace said, once again, making her exit.
“YOU SIT YOUR ARSE DOWN, GURL OR SO HELP ME…” Padrick shouted.
“You’ll what, Da? Bend me over your knee? You couldn’t even if you wanted to and your know it,” Grace told him.
Brianna and Reagan watched them, waiting to see who was going to say something next. Grace stood there, refusing to sit and Padrick stood with his fist on the table. Neither of them willing to give an inch and neither one of them was going to back down. Brianna knew that this argument had been brewing for years. She had it with her father back in Ireland before she married Padrick. She watched Grace have it with her when Grace came out. And, now, it was Padrick’s turn.
“Come on, Reagan. If you need to go, then now is the time to do it. Or, you can stay and listen to him prattle on about how much he wishes that you were his daughter,” Grace said.
She knew that the verbal jab got to her father. Grace watched him wince in recoil from it. Grace wasn’t going to back down, not now and not ever again from her parents. She’d endured enough with them for over twenty some odd years and now she wasn’t about to let him drag Reagan in, willingly if she could. She’d held her tongue and endured dinner. It was time to go and she knew it before her or her father said something that they would both regret in the morning.